Rotor



the longitudinal axes of the vanes.

Patented May 24, 1949 ROTOR John H. Abbott, Los Angeles, and John w. Anger, Maywood, Calif., asslgnors to Utility Appliance Corp., Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California Application September 28, 1945, Serial No. 619,030

6 Claims. 1.

Our invention relates generally to rotors for rotary blowers and, more specifically, to rotors which incorporate a plurality of adjacent elongated vanes. The fundamental concepts of our invention are particularly applicable to the fabrication of rotors which incorporate a cylindrical arrangement of adjacent vanes wherein the longitudinal axes of the vanes are substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the rotor.

Conventional rotors of the foregoing general character frequently incorporate individual vanes, the cylindrical arrangement thereof being maintained by securing the ends of each individual vane to suitable retaining members. Obviously the assembly of such conventional rotors is a relatively complex operation and care must be exercised to provide a uniform spacing of the individual vanes.

Consequently, as a primary objective of\our invention, we prefer to simplify the fabrication of cylindrical rotors through the'provision of a rotor construction wherein the vanes are interconnected by segments which are formed integrally therewith. We contemplate effecting a realization of this objective by cutting a rectangular strip to provide transverse and longitudinal slits therein which define the vanes and interconnecting segments, the vanes being integrally interconnected by thesegments.

Another primary objective of our invention is the provision of a rotor construction wherein the spacing of the vanes may be varied readily by the simple expedient of bending the interconnecting segments relative to the vanes, the segments lying substantially in planes that are parallel to The spacing of the vanes may also be varied by varying the length of the aforesaid longitudinal slits in accordance with another objective of our invention, thereby providing a simple means for varying the number of vanes incorporated in a particular rotor construction.

After the vanes have been formed and the desired spacing thereof has been achieved, the rectangular stripmay be bent so that the longitudinal axis thereof defines a circle to provide a cylindrical rotor. In order to provide a rigid rotor construction, we prefer to secure each vane 2 and being adapted for attachment to annular rims to provide the desired rigidity.

The foregoing and various other objectives and advantages of our invention may be realized by means of the embodiment thereof shown in the accompanying drawing, which is for illustrative purposes only, wherein:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a cylindrical rotor for a rotary blower which embodies the fundamental concepts of our invention;

Fig. 2 is a view illustrating a fragment of a member which may be employed in fabricating the rotor and illustrating various steps inthe fabrication thereof;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view which is taken as indicated by the arrowed line 33 of Fig. 1 and illustrates the details of the rotor construction;

Fig. 4 is a partially sectioned, fragmentary elevational view of the rotor; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view which is taken as indicated by the arrowed line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawing, the rotor includes a. plurality of substantially parallel adjacent elongated vanes In which are interconnected by segments II that are formed integrally therewith, the vanes I0 being secured to annular rims I! as will be described in detail hereinafter. The annular rims l2 are connected to spiders I3, the latter being provided with hubs I for rotatably mounting the rotor in any suitable manner.

Referring particularly to Fig. 2, the rotor isformed from a member l6 which is preferably a rectangular strip (not shown in its entirety) of material which may be sheet metal, for example. The rectangular strip I6 is cut transversely to provide longitudinally-spaced, transverse slits ll intermediate the longitudinal edges l8 thereof to define the vanes In between adjacent transverse slits H, the slits I1 and longitudinal axes A--A of the vanes l0 being substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the rectangular strip IS. The strip I6 is also cut longitudinally to provide substantially aligned and spaced longitudinal, slits l9 which are disposed adjacent and communicate with the ends of the transverse slits H to define the segments l I which interconnect the ends of the vanes ill, the longitudinal slits 19 being substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the rectangular strip IS. The ends of the longitudinal slits l9 are preferably fabricated with radiused ends for the purposeof crack the strip l6.

The longitudinal edges I8 of the strip it are out to provide notches 22 adjacent the ends of the transverse slits l1, thereby providing tabs 23 which extend from the ends of the vanes l0. The tabs 23 are then bent at right angles to the body of the strip, thus forming feet.

The segment II and the vanes l are bent into the form shown in section in Fig. 3, so that the vanes have the proper curvature for the service to which they are to be applied, the segments l'l extending diagonally as shown in 'Fig. 2. At

the'same time the entire strip is bent to form a cylinder of such size that it can be fitted inside the rim l2 as shown in Fig. 5, the bent portion oi the segments l I fitting closely inside the flange of the rim l2 and the feet formed of the tabs 43 fitting against the inner radial surface of the rim l2. The feet 23 are then spot welded to the rim. It should be noted. that when properly assembled the centrifugal force, tending to force the entire strip radially, is taken on the surface a: of Fig. 5, the bent portion of the segment ll pressing against the flange on the rim l2.

Our rotor construction thus considerably facilitates the manufacture of rotors for rotary blowers by permitting fabrication of the entire vane assembly from a single rectangular strip IS, the fabrication 'of the vanes l0, interconnecting seg-- ments H, and tabs 23 involving only simple cutting and bending operations. If'desired, the entire vane assembly may be fabricate. by a simple stamping operation or operations as is well known in the art. When assembling the rotor. the tabs 28 may, for example, be spot-welded to the an nular rims l2 as indicated at 21.

Although we have described a specific embodiment of our invention, we do not intend to be limited to the specific disclosures contained herein since various changes, modifications. and substitutions may be incorporated inthe specific embodiment without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

We claim as our invention: a

1. A rotor for a rota blower includingla plurality of adjacent elongated vanes havini'substantially parallel longitudinal axes, saidyanes being disposed in spaced relationship along a circular line and being so positioned relative thereto that one longitudinal edge of each vane is disposed inwardly of the line and the other longitudinal edge thereof is disposed outwardly of the line to define a substantially cylindrical rotor having a longitudinal axis which is sub-' stantially parallel to the longitudinal axes of said vanes, adjacent ends of adjacent vanes being joined by narrow segments each oi which is joined at one end to one vane and at the other end to an'adjacent vane, said segments not having any connection with any other part of the rotor, each end of each vane having a separate radial tab which is formed integrally therewith and is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axes of said vanesf 2. In a rotor for a rotary blower, the combination of: a plurality of adjacent elongated vanes having substantially parallel longitudinal axes, said vanes being disposed in spaced relationship along a circular line and beingso positioned relative thereto that one longitudinal edge of each vane is disposed inwardly ofwthe line and the. other longitudinal edge thereof is disposed outwardly of the line to define a substantially cylindrical rotor having a longitudinal axis which is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axes .4 being joined by narrow segments each of which is joined at one end to one vane and at the other end to an adjacent vane, said segments not having any connection with any other part of the rotor, each end of each vane having a separate radial tab which is formed integrally therewith and is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axes of said vanes; and a pair of annular rims, one of said annular rims being secured to said flanges on said vanes at one end of the rotor and the other of said annular rims being secured to said flanges on said vanes at the opposite end of the rotor.

3. .As an article of manufacture, an elongated strip which is provided with longitudinally spaced, transverse slits intermediate the longitudinal edges thereof to define vanes between adjacent transverse slits and is provided with substantially aligned and longitudinally-spaced longitudinal slits which are disposed adjacent and communicate with the ends of said transverse slits to define narrow segments each of which is joined at one end to one vane and at the other end to an adjacent vane, said strip being provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced notches therein along each of its longitudinal edges to define a plurality of longitudinally spaced tabs along each of its longitudinal edges.

4. As an article of manufacture, an elongated strip which is provided with longitudinallyspaced, transverse slits intermediate the longitudinal edges thereof to define vanes between adjacent transverse slits, is provided with substantially aligned and longitudinally-spaced longitudinal slits which are disposed adjacent and communicate with the ends of said transverse slits to define narrow segments each of which is joined at one end to one vane and at the other end to an adjacent vane, and is provided with notches in the longitudinal edges thereof adjacent the ends of said transverse slits to define separate radial tabs which extend from the ends of said vanes, said segments being bent relative to said vanes along lines which are substantially parallel to said transverse slits, and said tabs being bent relative to said vanes along lines which are substantially perpendicular to said transverse slits.

5. As an article of manufacture, a substantially recangular strip having a longitudinal axis, said strip being provided with longitudinallyspaced transverse slits intermediate the longitudinal edges thereof to define vanes between adjacent transverse slits, said transverse slits being substantially perpendicular to said longitudinal axis, said strip being provided with substantially aligned and longitudinally-spaced longitudinal slits which are disposed adjacent and communicate with the ends of said transverse slits to define narrow segments each of which is joined at one end to one vane and at the other end to an adjacent vane, said longitudinal slits being substantially parallel to said longitudinal axis, and said segments being bent relative to said vanes along lines which are substantially perpendicular to said longitudinal axis, said strip being provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced notches therein along each of its longitudinal edges to provide a plurality of longitudinally spaced tabs along each of its longitudinal edges, said tabs being bent relative to said vanes along lines which are substantially perpendicular to said transverse slits.

6. In a rotor for a rotary blower, a series of vanes, each of said vanes being formed of plane of said vanes, adjacent ends of adjacent vanes (5 sheet material, each of said vanes being bent 9,470,960 5 to form an air propelling surface, each of said REFERENCES CITED vanes having an independent tab formed on each end thereof, each of said tabs being bent at m gig gg ffi are of record in the right angles to the plane of the sheet, and a series of independent segments formed from said UNITED STATES PATENTS sheet, each of said segments connecting two Numb r Nam adjacent vanes, but not being otherwise 0011- 9028533 Hubbarde l nected to any portion Of the rotor. Marbach y JOHN H. ABBO'I'I'. JOHN w. ANGER. m 

